Mick's GeekBlog

Venus!

That’s completely apropos of nothing, but it just seemed like the best possible opening tonight. Bananarama, in very small doses, is one of my guilty pleasures.

We are back in Austin, relaxing before we return to our day jobs tomorrow. I’ve also got to get back to work on the script tomorrow. It’s not that I didn’t work on it over the holidays, it’s just that I didn’t work on it very much. It was on my mind quite a bit, but nothing was put on paper.

Yes, I actually do work on paper. There will be a point fairly soon where I’ll be writing on the computer, but I much prefer to do most of my development on paper. If you wanted to get all philosophical about it, you could say that it’s more organic. If you wanted to get a bit more new-agey, you could say that it provides a direct conduit for the creative energies to flow from my brain, through the pen, directly to the paper. All I know is that it feels better. I like writing on the computer, I like creating on paper. Everyone has there own methods, I guess. This one just works for me.

I’m tempted to tell you all exactly what I’m doing on the script on a week to week basis, but right now it just doesn’t feel right. And that makes me start to wonder – why don’t I want to tell you. And I start thinking about all the different reasons I might not want to tell you, and weighing those reasons. And at some point, that turned into “why did I want to tell them”?

And then I decided I should share that with you instead. That’s what it’s like in my head all the time. Welcome aboard.

Anyway, I’m still in the “working on paper” stage. I’m also in the “worrying about backlash, but not too much” phase.

Speaking of what goes on in my head, yesterday I took charge of my ragtag little band of family and took them out for some weirdness. We went to the National Museum of Funeral History in Spring, (that’s just north of Houston) Texas. It wasn’t nearly as morbid as I had hoped, but it was still pretty cool. My favorite exhibit was the Hearse collection, which was so much better than I expected. They have 20 or more hearses, and not only do they have them representing the entire span of funereal history, but many of them are truely masterpieces of hearse craftmanship, including this one, my personal favorite.

NMFH 1921 Rockfalls Hearse

The details on this thing are amazing, especially the side panels, intricately carved to look like curtains covering the window. There are links to many more detailed pictures here. They also have an extensive exhibit on the funereal practices of the Vatican. Walking in to it, I figured I’d blow through it pretty quick, but I was fascinated. 2000 years of ritual, politics, and pomp combine to make some interesting details. And yes, there’s much, much more. If you’re ever anywhere near to this place, it’s worth the trip.

On the way there, we also discovered that Spring has a Krystal Burger. Krystal is as close as we can get to White Castles in Texas, and there aren’t very many of them around. Thanks to my cousin Zack, who provided a bag of sliders with cheese!

Had yet another viewing of Inglourious Basterds and damn if it doesn’t get better every time I see it! Most of the family loved it as well, with the exception of Tara’s grandma, who had to leave during the first scalping.

Also watched The Hangover. I missed it when it came out and never got around to catching up with it. Damn funny. I’d watch it again.